Methods to shorten calibration times for powered devices
AssigneeCovidien LP
InventorMichael A. Zemlok
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A calibration method for a hand-held surgical instrument is disclosed. The hand-held instrument includes a drive motor, a firing rod controlled by the drive motor and having at least one indicator, and a sensor configured to detect the at least one indicator. A microcontroller includes a pulse modulation algorithm stored therein to control the drive motor. The microcontroller executes a calibration algorithm to adjust at least one program coefficient in the pulse modulation algorithm.
Claims16
A method for calibrating a surgical instrument comprising:
- initiating translation of a firing rod;
- detecting the translation of the firing rod;
- determining a time between when translation of the firing rod is initiated and when the translation is detected by a sensor;
- comparing the time with a predetermined time;
- and
- displaying the translation of the firing rod, the detecting the translation of the firing rod, and the comparing of the time with the predetermined time on a video display with corresponding voice pronouncements.
A surgical instrument comprising:
- a firing rod translatable along an axis of the surgical instrument;
- a sensor configured to detect translational motion of the firing rod along the axis, the sensor determining a linear speed of the firing rod;
- a microcontroller having a pulse modulation algorithm stored therein, the microcontroller receiving the time from the position calculator and comparing the time to a predetermined time and adjusting the at least one program coefficient based on the comparison between the time and the predetermined time, wherein the microcontroller selects the predetermined time based on the linear speed of the firing rod;
- and
- a position calculator configured to determine a time between when the firing rod begins translational motion along the axis and when the sensor detects the translational motion of the firing rod along the axis, wherein the microcontroller executes a calibration algorithm to adjust at least one program coefficient in the pulse modulation algorithm.
A method of assembling a power head of a surgical instrument comprising:
- mounting a set of operating components of a power head on a chassis such that the set of operating components has a proper configuration for alignment in at least two orthogonal planes when the chassis and the set of components mounted thereon are deployed within an interior volume encompassed by a housing of the power head;
- and
- deploying the set of operating components mounted on the chassis within the interior volume encompassed by the housing, wherein deploying the set of operating components mounted on the chassis within the interior volume provides the proper configuration for alignment in the at least two orthogonal planes of the set of operating components.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.